Foamed meat processed foods

ABSTRACT

Disclosure is made of a process for producing foamed processed meat foods which comprises mixing meat with sodium chloride under agitation (so-called “shio-zuri”), foaming the resultant composition by stirring and then molding and heating it and foamed processed meat foods produced by this process. The processed meat foods of the present invention are characterized by soft and light texture.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This invention relates to foamed processed meat foods and aprocess for producing the same. Because of having been foamed, the foodsof the present invention are characterized by soft texture and easinessto eat.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Meat matches well modern eating habits and, therefore, meat perse and processed meat products are both popular broadly. Processed meatproducts involve various ones, for example, ham, sausage, bacon, cornedbeef and roasted pork. These processed products have the inherentstructure and texture of meat, thus showing crispness. In recent years,however, consumers would make a choice to soft foods and preferprocessed ground meat foods to those having the characteristic textureof meat. However, there is no processed meat food with soft texture atthe present time except hamburger steak and products similar thereto.Namely, although there are potential needs for soft processed meatproducts, there is no food satisfying this requirement in practice.

[0003] Under these circumstances, an object of the present invention isto provide novel processed meat foods having soft and light texture. Toachieve this object, the present inventors have designed foamedprocessed meat foods and studied on a process for producing the same.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0004] Thus the present inventors have found that foamed processed meatfoods having soft texture can be produced by mixing meat with sodiumchloride under agitation (so-called “shio-zuri”), foaming the resultantcomposition by stirring and then molding and heating it, thus achievingthe above-mentioned object.

[0005] The meat to be used in the present invention may be an arbitraryone, so long as it is selected from edible ones (beef, pork, chicken,mutton, horse, rabbit, etc.) . It is also possible to use two or moremeats. In usual, use is made of one or more meats such as beef, pork orchicken. If desired, the meat may be processed into ground meat, etc. soas to facilitate the processing. The meat may be used together withother materials such as fish meat.

[0006] To produce foamed products, it is needed that the meat is firstsubjected to shio-zuri to thereby solubilize proteins, thus facilitatingthe subsequent foaming by stirring. The shio-zuri may be performed by amethod commonly employed in the art. In the step of shio-zuri, theconcentration of sodium chloride is regulated preferably to 2 to 4%based on the meat. At such a concentration, proteins in the meat can beefficiently solubilized and an appropriate saltiness can be imparted tothe final product. In addition to sodium chloride, other components maybe used in this step, so long as the effects of sodium chloride are notinhibited thereby. For example, use may be made therefor of sweeteners,seasonings, etc., as will be described hereinafter. The shio-zuri can becarried out by using an apparatus usually employed therefor, forexample, a food cutter, an attritor or a silent cutter.

[0007] The foaming by stirring, which is the subsequent procedure, maybe conducted either batch-wise or continuously. In a batch process, usemay be made therefor of an attritor, a silent cutter or a high-speedcutter. In a continuous process, it is possible to use, for example, acontinuous pin mixer described in JP (Kokoku) Sho 63-63190 (FIG. 2 +L).By using the continuous process, the product can be efficiently producedwithout any suspension. The foaming is carried out so that the finalproduct has a specific gravity of from 0.3 to 0.95, preferably from 0.4to 0.8, still preferably from 0.5 to 0.75, and from 0.5 to 0.6 in themost desirable case. When the product has a high specific gravity due topoor foaming, it has a high gel strength and relatively hard texture.Namely, an excessively high specific gravity is inappropriate forprocessed foods with soft texture. On the other hand, a product having alow specific gravity due to rich foaming shows a low gel strength andsoft texture. However, the air-content and specific gravity may beappropriately controlled depending on the desired texture and physicalproperties of the product. A foaming agent may be added to the meatcomposition prior to the foaming by stirring. The foaming agent canelevate the viscosity of the composition and thus allow to maintain airbubbles incorporated into the composition during stirring as such. Itmay be selected from various ones which are suitable for edible use andexert no undesirable effect on other steps of the present invention.Examples of the foaming agent usable in the present invention includeyam, egg albumen, thickening polysaccharides (guar gum, etc.) andemulsifiers. Either one of these foaming agents or a mixture thereof maybe employed. The amount of the foaming agent varies depending on the aircontent. That is to say, the amount of the foaming agent employed isincreased with an increase in the foam volume. To the foamedcomposition, side materials (seasonings, sweeteners, starch, breadcrumbs, etc.) may be added. Furthermore, solid matters such as vegetableand meat pieces may be added to the foamed composition.

[0008] The molding is performed by a method commonly employed in the artwith the use of a molding machine, etc. For example, the foamedcomposition is shaped into balls, ovals, etc. depending on the desiredfinal product. The heating is also carried out in a conventional manner,for example, frying, steaming, boiling or roasting. These proceduresmaybe appropriately combined with each other depending on the desiredfinal product.

[0009] The production process as described above may further involveadditional steps. For example, additives (sweeteners, seasonings,starch, bread crumbs, vegetables, etc.) may be added at an appropriatestep. Moreover, ground meat or meat blocks may be added to the foamedcomposition. The types and amounts of these additives may beappropriately selected within the scope known by those skilled in theart, so long as the specific gravity of the final product falls withinthe range of from 0.3 to 0.95. The addition timing is not particularlyrestricted too. In particular, sweeteners, seasonings, etc. may be addedeither before or after the foaming by stirring. The production processof the present invention may involve additional procedures.

[0010] To further illustrate the present invention in greater detail,the following Examples will be given.

EXAMPLE 1

[0011] 35 g of sodium chloride was added to 1 kg of ground lean beefwhich was then subjected to shio-zuri by using a silent cutter(manufactured by Bibun). When the mixture became viscous, 10 g of guargum and 100 g of egg albumen were added thereto and the resultantcomposition was foamed by stirring with a silent cutter (manufactured byBibun). When the specific gravity of the composition reached about 0.70,50 g of potato starch, 20 g of sodium glutamate, 5 g of pepper and 500ml of water were added thereto followed by well mixing. The compositionshowed a specific gravity of 0.80 at this stage. Next, the compositionwas molded into a circular form (diameter: 8 cm, thickness: 1 cm) andheated in hot water at 85 to 95° C. for 15 minutes to thereby give afoamed processed beef product.

[0012] This processed beef product had a soft texture never observed inthe conventional products. It tasted soft and good when fried in butteror sandwiched.

EXAMPLE 2

[0013] 40 g of sodium chloride was added to 1 kg of ground chickenbreast which was then subjected to shio-zuri by using a silent cutter(manufactured by Bibun). When the mixture became viscous, 50 g of yam,10 g of guar gum and 100 g of egg albumen were added thereto and theresultant composition was foamed by stirring with a silent cutter(manufactured by Bibun). When the composition was sufficiently foamed,70 g of potato starch, 30 g of sucrose, 20 g of sodium glutamate, 50 gof chicken extract, 5 g of pepper and 350 g of water were added theretofollowed by well mixing. The composition showed a specific gravity of0.5 at this stage. Next, 400 g of ground chicken and 200 g of smallonion pieces were added to the foamed composition. The resultantcomposition showed a specific gravity of 0.75. Then the composition wasmolded into an oval form (10 cm ×7 cm, thickness: 12 mm) and steamed ina steamer at 85 to 95° C. for 15 minutes to thereby give a foamedprocessed chicken product.

[0014] This processed chicken product had a soft and light texture whilesustaining the grained touch characteristic to ground meat.

EXAMPLE 3

[0015] 100 g of sodium chloride was added to 5 kg of ground pork insideham which was then subjected to shio-zuri by using a silent cutter(manufactured by Bibun). After the completion of the shio-zuri, 150 g ofegg albumen, 250 g of potato starch, 20 g of sucrose, 20 g of sodiumglutamate, 20 g of sake, 20 g of soy sauce, 7 of pepper and 1 l of waterwere added thereto followed by well mixing. The composition was foamedwith the use of a pin mixer described in JP (Kokoku) Sho 63-63190 sothat it showed a specific gravity of 0.85. Then the composition wasmolded into an oval form (10 cm ×7 cm, thickness: 10 mm) and fried inoil at 160 to 170° C. for 10 seconds so as to cause gelation at thesurface alone. Subsequently, it was steamed in a steamer at 85 to 95° C.for 15 minutes to thereby completely heat to the core, thus giving afoamed processed pork product.

[0016] This processed pork product had a soft texture.

What is claimed is:
 1. Foamed processed meat foods having specificgravity of from 0.3 to 0.95.
 2. A process for producing foamed processedmeat foods which comprises mixing meat with sodium chloride underagitation (so-called “shio-zuri”), foaming the resultant composition bystirring and then molding and heating it.
 3. Foamed processed meat foodsproduced by the process as claimed in claim 2.